It can often prove to be fatal. Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by a bacteria found in tainted water or food. It can kill within weeks through dehydration, but is treatable if caught in time. The spread started 3 years ago in Haiti and entered to Mexico through a hurricane and tropical storm which caused heavy rains, floods, landslides and internal displacement of populations, thus increasing the risk of diarrheal diseases. 171 affected cases, 1 dead were reported in Mexico.
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Although there were several competing theories as to the etiology of the Black Death, recent analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe indicates that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which causes the Bubonic plague, although these were different, previously unknown ancestral variants of those identified in the 20th century. The Black Death is thought to have started in China or central Asia, before spreading west. It is estimated to have killed 25 million people or 30% of the population of China. The plague then travelled along the Silk Road and reached the Crimea by 1346.
The investigation included hospitals, day care settings, churches, and schools. Measles outbreaks had been considered eradicated since 2000, however with more and more people choosing to be unvaccinated, and increasing travel outside the United States this has become a worry again for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The current rate for measles in the United States is 1 in 738,672 people (Vaccine incidence, 2014). Despite great achievements put forward toward global reduction of measles, there still remains a large issue. In 2010, 327,305 cases of measles were reported and approximately 139,300 deaths (CDC,
It states that because the costs of healthcare continue to increase so does the number of uninsured which in return increases the costs even more. “Primary care coverage for the uninsured is the first necessary step to reform and can be more cost effective and tolerable than a major system.” (Stephens, J. H., & Ledlow, G. R., 2010). Hospitals and physicians would spend much less on uncompensated care and patient’s health care debts would be much less. The idea of providing basic care as a right for all citizens would not only help the healthcare systems cost issues it would also increase the quality of healthcare. Everyone would then have the availability to preventative services and treatments meaning that less people would be likely to wait to seek medical care for an acute illness and the number of people attending emergency care departments would decrease.
Though historians aren’t totally certain, they hypothesize that the plague originated in the Gobi desert. Something they do know for sure is that this disease, like several others, was carried to Europe by fleas, rats, and other rodents. Within 20 years, this deadly epidemic killed roughly between
This mass expansion of health care in America must have an effect on utilization, but this effect is not yet known and is subject to vast speculation and controversy. Many people fear that the system will become overloaded and that Americans will be forced to get on waiting lists for care or perhaps deal with providers that are chosen for them. Due to the fact that the reforms force Americans that can afford health care to buy in, however, there will likely be less people cramming emergency rooms seeking free care. Perhaps the most important change in utilization forecast is the shift from treatment of disease to preventative care. The reforms and expansion of health insurance and specials provisions relating to preventative care are designed to get Americans to think about preventing disease before it happens.
Demand Versus Supply Kaushal Parikh HCS 552 January 27, 2014 Thomas Kehoe Demand Versus Supply (Davidson, 2013) In 2009, out of 33 developed nations only 32 nations had universal healthcare, the United States of America was the only one without such system till this year (True Cost, 2009). The cost of healthcare in America is 17.2% of the GDP at $8,608 per person, which comes second only to Switzerland at $9,121 per person, whose efficiency is ranked top-10 health care system in the world while the United States ranks 46th in terms of efficiency (Davidson, 2013). The constant increase in the healthcare cost has driven the United States government to look at its policies and try to come up with solutions to reduce cost and improve
In fact, cases of all vaccine-preventable diseases are down more than 97% from peak levels before vaccines were available. Vaccines are now available to protect children and adults against 15 life-threatening or debilitating diseases. • healthier mothers and babies. At the turn of the century, 140 of every 1,000 babies born alive died within their first year of life. Today, that rate is 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births • family planning.
Imagining a system where the doctor spends more time keeping you healthy with new methods, treatments and information, then he or she does in treating any illness. The status quo is not an option as some politicians claim because 14,000 people lose their health insurance every single day. This is on top of the 46-million who are already uninsured for various reasons. Obama’s healthcare reform will answer most of these
(Sultz & Young pg. 228). All of these factors have contributed to the increased costs of the health care system put on the public and has also influenced some of the barriers that have led to the access of healthcare I spoke about above. The AMA (American Medical Association) also attributes the high cost of health care from the rising toll of preventable illness & inefficiencies in the health care system. They have identified four strategies to contain health care cost, they consist of reduce the burden of preventable disease, make health care delivery more efficient, reduce nonclinical health system costs that do not contribute to patient care and promote value-based decision making at all levels.(http://www.ama-assn.org).